returning to normal there. united airlines confirms it's grounded 96 of the boeing 757s. the groundings comes after the carrier determined it did not complete at faa-mandated check on the jet's computer systems. there is no malfunction that you know of. these inspections take between 60 and 90 minutes so far this, has forced united to cancel flights and delay other autos captain of a sinking barge in the bay used quick thinking to avoid an environmental mess. >> there is a developing story and just moments ago the coast guard earlier today, it turns out a 3800 gallon support barge, and one gallon of oil

spilled. and it's been a very unusual day. >> and at the golden gate yacht club, they've never seen this. a dredging barge, a marina entrance off the green. it's like a small amount of oil as well. >> there is light oil on top of the water. >> where does this come from? >> it's hydraulic oil. >> from sky 7, the spill looked significant and appears to have had minimal impact due to booms. and this is the environmental group was concerned and they launched a boat to survey firsthand. they're encouraged by absence of oil but remain watchful. >> it's good to see oil booms in place in case there is a leak. >> this dredge was not

happenstance. the sand merchant began taking on water. the captain moved it here in, doing so, preventing the barge from sinking and causing a more serious problem. the coast guard handled this by the book. >> there is some good calls. i can't say what went wrong at that time. and we're still looking into that. >> by mid afternoon, the company moved in a second large to transfer some of the 3,000 tons of sand still aboard and to lighten the load. it is what it is, and the good news is that this wasn't what it might have been. >> and you're looking back at a live picture now. we're told just moments ago they had the barge dewatered. they're lightning the load and patched a hole down there underneath the water line. and they're telling us it was one foot square.

there is no word as to what caused that hole below the water line but they'll be looking at it. next step get more than sand off the barge and tow it out of here. live from marina green, abc 7 news. >> wayne, thank you. we'll follow that. a victory for the prosecution today in the barry bonds case. there is a judge allowing prosecutors to play an audio recording they claim has bonds personal trainer discussing steroid use. lawyers argued since the trainer refused to testify in this case, there is no way to authenticate the topic. but prosecutors plan to call the former business partner who made the reportings to the witness stand. and there is a trial scheduled march 21. >> the governor imposed a hiring freeze on all state agencies. brown's order applies to all open positions except for

public safety and patient care jobs and stops hiring of outside contractors to do the work. the governor working to close the deficit and shave $350 million in operational expenses from the budget. >> and this woman, the former city manager of bell claims she was quote trying to save the minnesota and was not trying to bilk taxpayers as her e mail suggests. the officials have pleaded not guilty to corruption charges. documents released yesterday showing e mail exchange between the soon to be police chief. the two of them joked about getting rich off of taxpayers getting their quote share of the pie. >> and secretary of state clinton warned representative states in the middle east and elsewhere about restricting internet access. secretary clinton says it will not hold back growing demands

for reforms. and cited uprisings in egypt as recent example. last week they launched twitter accounts in arabic and farsi. >> hoping societies give rise to the most-lasting project, that the rule of law is the firmist foundation for justice and peace and that ideas of all kinds are aired and explored. >> in iran members of parliament called for execution two of opposition leaders after thousands defied warnings and protests in the streets again, today. >> cbc revealed today one of the reporters suffered from what it called quote a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating while covering the egyptian revolution. cbs provided this photo in cairo last week. logan continues to recover in

a hospital in new york city. the network reports a quote dangerous element surrounded logan and her crew while thousands celebrated egyptian president mubarak's resignation last friday. and cbs credits the group with saving logan. there were 140 attacks on journalists during recent protests in egypt. >> google's eco made a rare public acknowledgement saying the company is very proud of egyptian employee that helped organize protests through a facebook page. and was thrown in jail. after 12 days, was released. next day he rallied a massive crowd in tahrir square. he's the goog yet marketing manager for the middle east. >> the berkeley city council will put aside its looming deficit for a few moments tonight to consider extending an invitation to two former

terror suspects, both being held in guantanamo bay prison. one is a russian ballet dancer and another is a algerian chief. the u.s. initially claimed both were said sent to guantanamo bay, where they've been more than eight years now. both have been clear fd any wrong doingings. >> and they're not violent people and would be a great fit for the community. i'd be happy to welcome one of them. >> and local nonprofits are advising the city not to take this action. >> and coming up, the awards that brought together a former president and billionaire warren buffet. >> and there is a plan to make sure pregnant women don't lose health insurance when they need it most. >> if you want to go to a good college and live a happy live, get good grades.

>> a mid-year celebration in a east bay high school. students are climbing the ladddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

>> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. san francisco police released a sketch of a person of interest in a stabbing death of a teenager last week. >> the person they're looking for is described as 18 to 19 years old, about five 10 inches tall and 160-maybe 180 pounds. >> police say a man punched a 16-year-old near capitol avenue, he and his friends chased the man who then turned and stabbed him in the chest. police believe it was a targeted attack. a state senator introduced a bill in sacramento that would close the gap of health insurance coverage of women who take pregnancy leave from work.

state law guarantees four months of unpaid disability leave but state senator evans says the law concerning employer-paid health care during this leave is unclear and has gaps in it. >> the problem is that while they're taking that leave, the law allows employers to cancel their benefits. so... what ab 299 would do is close that loophole. >> she says many women decide to return to work early rather than lose their coverage and wants new working moms to have adequate time to bond with newborn autos president obama today presented a medal of freedom to basketball legends. the medal is the highest civilian honor presented to people who made important contributions to national security, world peace and culture. in honoring russell the president praised the native as a champion on the court at the university of san francisco and the boston celtics and a champion off the

course as well. >> bill russell the man stood up for the right to dignity of all men, marching with care. stood by and when a restaurant refused to serve black celtics he refused to play in the game. he kept on focusing on making the teammates he loved better players. >> other honories also german chancelor and the author and poet maya angleou. >> a group of high school students in oakland were allowed to do today. and that is one of the perks of a b average. >> this is a party in the middle of the school day. for hundreds of students making the grade in the classroom. >> so why are you here?

>> i got a 4.5. >> i got 3.0. >> never below a 3.5. >> this event is called climb the mountain of success, including 800 of the 1900 students invited to celebrate achieving at least a 3.0 or working to raise their gpa but a half a point in one semester. >> it was hard but i worked towards my goals. >> and he want to say i'm proud of you. >> oakland mayor's two children graduated from skyline and went on to ivy league colleges. >> the reality is that many of the schools in the hills and midlands are among the best in the state. >> and administrators believe this is a important he sflent a district where only a third

of the african american males graduate. >> there is more encouragement to put forth effort. >> the hope is that the success of the students will send a message to other autos do you want to get to a good college? live a happy live? get good grades. >> and three suspects in a mortgage rescue scheme surrendered to authorities today. >> michael finney broke this story last tuesday and he is here tonight with an update on this. >> we've told but this last week. the grand jury named four people in a 29-count indictment on charges of real estate fraud and filing false documents. three suspects appeared in court after a a.agreeing to surrender. the judge ordered three to turn in their pass ports and stay in california. they set bail for bruce

blankenhorn at $50,000 and the judge says they're accused of bilking vulnerable victims and that public must be protected the attorney says her clients are victims in this whole scheme. >> to this day they were persuaded this was stick with their own home throughout this process going to show how persuaded they were. >> and i believe they'll be found guilty and held accountable for actions. >> the suspected master mind in this case was arrested and being held on $780,000 bail. and there is a hearing scheduled for thursday.

jp morgan chase announced a plan to prevent overcharging of thousands of active duty military members on mortgages. the bank forced to apologize last week when waits learned chase violated laws protecting active military personnel from foreclosure and pledged to offer rebates for those overcharged and reduce rates to 4% from eligible borrowers and promised to strengthen programs for distressed military homeowners. >> more retailers are facing lawsuits for asking consumers for zip codes ruling laws ban stores from collecting that information. the decision against williams-sonoma can trigger an avalanche of new wal wall -- lawsuits. and if calls are any indication there is bunch more coming up.

>> and let's focus on the weather. the storm system beginning to make it's way across the bay area. >> starting to see strong winds ahead of the storm. there is rain in the north bay. there is if you're looking at a time frame towards tomorrow we'll be talking about snow and thunder. there is a live look from our sutro camera. there is some gusty winds at this hour. there is gusts over 50 miles per hour from. our emeryville camera, you can see clouds gathering. and there is a storm system slowed down but now gaining mow meant yu. you'll see it's raining now in the north bay and it's started to press south ward. taking you in closer here

heelsburg towards the napa county area, knoxville road, you can see rain there just northeast. and there is wet pavement towards the bay bridge heading towards oakland and berkeley and this is lighter but heavier rain is coming. and into sierra nevada clouds, rain and some higher elevations heading across 80 towards truckee starting to pick up snow. temperatures now into 50s. it's been mild in terms of temperatures. and there is sfo gusting to 37. and novato close to 40 miles per hour wind gusts now z places like san jose starting to feel winds and let's take a look at the highlights. rain and winds tonight, snow level around 2500 to 3,000

feet from snow levels going to be dropping here in the bay area and isolated thunderstorms will occur tomorrow with small hail, watch out for that. there is our large storm system with a cold air associated with it. there is rain pressing south and east tonight. there is a wind this front is where cold air is going come n is going bring about snow. wets lets take a look here. 7:00 tonight you can see yellow showing up, heavier rainfall. ukiah reporting heavy rain. around 11:00 east bay, south bay santa cruz mountains and and really into afternoon hours there is and snow coming down to lower levels.

thursday morning, clouds and not for long. quickly rain redevelops and we can see pet pavement again with cool conditions conditioning into thursday evening. rainfall totals into santa cruz mountains and north bay from 3:00 to 3:00 and a half inches of rain through thursday evening. from one to two east bay and less in the south bay. and there is one to two feet of snow at lake level. and gusts to 100. whiteout conditions and passes will be impacted. there is is a cooler night, wet, tomorrow you feed rain gear. temperatures into mid 40s to mid-50s. going to be a cooler afternoon. there is your accu-weather forecast. there is thunder possible to.

thursday, snow. showers mixed in friday more rain. could see snow. and saturday, more rain. and and thank you. >> and still ahead fast food calorie count levels. do they curb unhealthy habits? >> and at 6:00 founder of the new clothing line and the v

a study finds calorie counts do not influence kids

whit comes to what they ordered. and researchers surveyed kids and only 9% say they considered the calorie counts when ordering, however, it did find parents had a little influence on the food choices kid made. the results published in international journal of obesity. >> in san jose some fourth and fifth graders may gobbing to china they're members of the china club. they've been studying manda rin. and have been skyping with a school in southern china, too. that is

in the newsroom at 6:00 disorder in the court.

allegations overspending and miss man oomt and how these children are being inspired to learn. and he's been on the payroll longer than anyone else. what kept him on the job for 62 years, and counting is coming up tonight at 6:00. >> and that is 62 yirs? good for him. >> world news is next. i'm cheryl jennings. >> from all of us here thanks for watching. we appreciate your time and hope to see you again in half an hour. >> bye-bye. tonight on "world news," the rising cost of dinner. food prices going up. we'll tell you how much and why. secret messages. today, we tracked the brave young protesters trying to

change their countries as iran threatens death. cold comfort. a new study about how to fight the sneezy misery. "world news" investigates. american fathers, japanese mothers and children spirited off, half a world away. and, man versus machine. we try to get an interview with watson, the computer pitted against the sharpest human mind. why did he make those mistakes? good evening. a big warning today about the cost of the food in american refrigerators. and the price we'll pay for the recent extremes of drought and flooding here and around the world. and, it's not just food, it's clothing, too. and david wright is in los angeles tonight with what we learned today. david? >> reporter: good evening, diane. you know, it used to be said that when america sneezes, the world catches a cold.